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Elimination Chamber: Did They Get it Right?

Fresh on the heels of another “History Making” pay per view, many fans have been left scratching their heads at some of the booking decisions made. There weren’t many matches on the card, and most if not all of them ended the way many had anticipated. Nobody honestly expected Titus Worldwide to dethrone The Bar, and as impressive as her post-match destruction was, did anyone really think that Nia would end the streak? But, just because something was predictable and expected, doesn’t mean that everyone feels the right decisions were made.

Three things stood out as head-scratchers, the first being the Women’s Elimination Chamber. Now there aren’t many people saying it was the wrong choice to keep the belt on Bliss, and given the way the post-match promo went it would be hard to argue that Alexa is anything other than the top female heel in the company.

What had me shaking my head was the so-called “heel turn” that we are made to believe Sasha Banks made. In a match where it’s every woman for herself, it wasn’t too strange to see Sasha attempt to take out Bayley. It just lacked the big WOW moment that something like that should have had. Not to mention having the match come down to two heels just seemed like questionable decision making. If it develops into a better feud for Sasha and Bayley, I’ll happily stand corrected.

Number two, and possibly the most polarizing event of the night, would be Roman Reigns winning the chance to end the run of The Beast Incarnate. It was something that has been said for months, reported on by every writer under the sun.

What got overlooked in the match though, was exactly how well they built up Braun in it all. Five eliminations, kicking out of four people covering him and taking multiple spears to finally keep him down showed precisely how much faith the brass seem to have in him.

He kicked out of almost every finishing move, and I don’t think that should be lost on people. Where he goes from here though is a mystery, with rumors of an IC Title match being floated around. Personally, I would love to see him have an effect on the title match at Mania, helping Roman win only so he can be the one to take it off of him.

The event that had the sports world buzzing though was the contract signing of Ronda Rousey. There hadn’t been much speculation on exactly what it would entail, but a common fear was that she would somehow be thrust into a title match based on her UFC past and the drawing power that came with her name.

Instead, we saw the groundwork laid for a fantastic story thanks to the brilliant work of Kurt Angle. While all signs now point to Kurt and Ronda versus Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, there is an avenue to go down that I don’t think people have been thinking about.

At the Royal Rumble, it seemed a foregone conclusion that Asuka was going to go after the Raw title which would leave Charlotte without a viable opponent. Once Ronda came out, people jumped to the conclusion that it would be Rousey and Flair on the grandest stage of them all but it’s clear that it won’t be. At least, not at Wrestlemania.

Instead, why have it be Kurt and Ronda, when it could just as easily be Shane or a returning Daniel Bryan? What better way to recruit Ronda over to the blue brand than to have one of them by her side? Either would make sense, and it could pave the way to many a great match.